August Schell Brewing releases 30th Anniversary Pilsner beer series

ST. PAUL – The August Schell Brewing Co. released its 30th Anniversary Pilsner Series in a release party at O’Gara’s Bar & Grill in St. Paul.

The release celebrates the anniversary of the first Pilsner beer Schell’s introduced in 1984, moving the brewery into the craft brewing business.

In 1984, Schell’s President Ted Marti thought it time to break away from the then-popular image of beer in America. At that time, America’s unique beers and breweries had all but disappeared, leaving only a few who mass-produced commodity beers with little or no character, tradition or culture worth mentioning.

Drawing on Schell’s rich German heritage, Schell’s introduction of a full-flavored, traditional Bavarian-style Pilsner was only the start of the brewery’s contribution to the craft beer revolution. Later that year, Marti introduced Schell’s Weiss Beer, followed by numerous other craft beer varieties over the years.

The Schell’s 30th Anniversary Pilsner Series consists of four different Pilsner beers. It includes the original recipe from 1984, Schell’s contemporary Pils beer and two new innovative varieties made to help celebrate this occasion: a Roggen and Mandarina Pils.

Schell’s original Pils recipe is what the late beer aficionado Michael Jackson called “One of the best American examples of the Pilsner style.” It has a light maltiness, delicate noble hop aroma and a pleasant hop bitterness.

Schell’s contemporary Pils beer recipe has evolved over the past 30 years. Today it is brewed with 100 percent two-row barley malt and is dry hopped with Sterling hops. It has a rich malt body accented by a large floral hop and malt aroma with a refreshing hop tang.

The Roggen Pils is a twist on the traditional, featuring spicy rye malt coupled with spicy Tettnang and Smaragd hops from the Tettnang region of Germany. The fourth Pils variety showcases a new hop from Germany called Mandarina Bavaria. Its strong tangerine and citrus notes dominate the flavor and aroma.

This series is being released in 12-pack samplers containing three 12-ounce bottles of each variety, and in sets of four 1/6-barrels starting Monday, March 10.

A series to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Schell’s Hefeweizen will also be available in July.